Locations of cemeteries in each county in Idaho, as listed on the [http://history.idaho.gov/cemetery.html Idaho State Archives] web site

Locations of cemeteries in each county in Idaho, as listed on the [http://history.idaho.gov/cemetery.html Idaho State Archives] web site

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Abstracts and photos of tombstones in many Idaho cemeteries are available online at FindAGrave.com's website.

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Abstracts and photos of tombstones in many Idaho cemeteries are available online at [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cs&CRid=2147087&CScntry=4&CSst=15&CScnty=682& Findagrave.com]'s website.

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Abstracts of those buried in a few cemeteries in Idaho are at the Interment.net web site ([http://www.interment.net/us/id/index.htm http://www.interment.net/us/id/index.htm])

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Abstracts of those buried in a few cemeteries in Idaho are at the [http://www.interment.net/us/id/index.htm Interment.net] website.

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Photographs of some tombstones in cemeteries in Idaho are online at the Idaho Gravestones web site ([http://idahogravestones.org/ http://idahogravestones.org/])

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Photographs of some tombstones in cemeteries in Idaho are online at the [http://idahogravestones.org/ Idaho Gravestones] website

Revision as of 17:09, 20 July 2010

Cemetery records often consist of two very important types of records -- (1) the headstones in the cemetery, and (2) the records kept by the caretaker of the cemetery, usually called sexton's records. The larger cemeteries usually have a sexton's office where records are located.

Sexton's records include names of the owners of burial lots and information about those buried there. In smaller cemeteries, sexton's records may not exist or they may be stored off-site, such as in the home of the cemetery's caretaker or sexton. In those cases, the headstone may be the only record of the person buried in the grave.

Tombstone inscriptions provide information often not available from other sources. However, there are several possible problems. The tombstone may be weathered and difficult to read. Vandalism may have destroyed information on the stones. Sometimes, the information recorded by the stonecutter on the tombstone may have been incorrect.

All of the larger cities in Idaho have one or more cemeteries within the boundaries of the city. Many rural towns and communities also have cemeteries identified by the name of the locality. Historically, those who died were often buried near where the death occurred -- on farms, near a mine, in a remote forest location, etc. Many of these burial locations have been identified and the information about those buried there has been abstracted. Some are listed on the Idaho State Archives web site. Some of them are also listed on the USGenWeb site for each county in the state.